Now I get it! So "man shed" is the back of the garage, right hand side is Dining near the bifold then Kitchen as you have it, then make the "Study" into the Utility. Do you have a side return and are you interested in changing the window on the right in the current Study to a door so that you have a side entrance and then the Utility becomes a mudroom, too, and entrance for bags of shopping and kids with stuff? Make the "Playroom" the Study and decide whether you really want/need two doors into it. Playroom area where you have "More Lounge?" is great because then you can see the kiddies from all parts of the open plan area. Now what to do with the area currently drawn out as "Utility".... I'll see if I can describe a suggestion without the aid of software or pen and paper.... Have a big door or doorway from the hall lined up with the front door, keep the current outside wall opposite and fill in the doorway that used to go to your conservatory, build a wall to the right of that that is wide enough for you to have your TV - marked in blue on your plan, right? - and then on the playroom side of the former exterior wall build deep cupboards or drawers and shelves to put the extra kids' toys and on the side you will see from the front door make it a sort of reception/coat hanging/bookshelf space - maybe bookshelves all along this side of the exterior wall, a console table and mirror on the left hand wall so you can see it all the way from the kitchen, and a coat rack or stand in there somewhere? From the lounge you'll have a solid wall in the middle for your tele but it'll actually be hiding storage either side of it. I don't know if that makes any sense! Let me know if I'm totally off track or if I should look for some pictures for examples. Don't have pokey little doors between the front of the house and the extension - let the light flow in and make it more to scale with the big lovely extension and the giant windows and doors.

Hi Karis, It would be good to see a plan of the room as the photos can distort perspective a little. I agree with you, the room does look a little off kilter. It's too heavy to the right of the fireplace -to balance it out you need something to the left (of the fireplace).- reflecting the height and width of the bookcase. One way you could achieve this is by using paintings or some kind of wall art above and slightly behind a chair. (small relaxing arm/reading chair would be ideal. A floor light in this corner even, if its only a plug in floor spot light will make a difference. Option A will also feel a little more balanced, but also a very tiny bit like the reception of some private practice. If the desk isn't too big, can you try turning the desk slightly diagonally into the room? Alternatively, position the desk where you had it originally and create a picture wall full of all the photos you love behind it (on the door wall). You will also need either a desk light either positioned on the desk or on the wall to give you the lighting you need, making your desk a pleasant place to work at. Hope this helps, please keep us posted. Annika

The door thing is interesting. At least I think so! Maybe you would like to know why doors are hung the way they are? Traditionally in the UK doors are hung so they open with the leaf going into the room. This does two things. Firstly it makes the room a bit more private. So if you're doing something in the room and someone else comes in then they don't see immediately what you're up to, but you have a bit of notice that they are coming in before they see you. This means you can quickly hide anything that you don't want to be revealed to the other person. This is more of a thing if you have staff and then you want to maintain some level of privacy from them. Secondly it helps with draughts. Older houses are especially leaky and you can feel the movement of air. That air movement has a kind of internal wind chill factor. When you have the doors opening into the room then it slows down the flow of air, because it has to go around the door instead of straight in, so you can reduce that air movement a bit. In warmer countries, like Spain, where they want to keep doors open and out of the way so they can maximise air movement to cool the space down, then traditionally they have the doors opening against the wall. This way they can keep them held open more easily and have more air flow. In more modern or upgraded homes the draughts are not so much of an issue, and most of us don't have house staff that we want to keep things private from. So it can make sense to have the doors rehung. It's worth knowing the reasons behind the way they're hung, so you can be more selective. Perhaps in some rooms you would like to maintain that privacy, perhaps in a bathroom, and then you could hang the door in a way that works best. It's a lot easier to get furniture in and out when you hang the door to open against the wall. Hope that's interesting for you!!

I like the idea of putting a shower in there. Could be useful even just for spraying down mucky dogs, football boots etc. You could have the door opening into the hall to give you a bit more room in there. I would also consider maybe putting the door on the diagonal wall so you have room one side for the sink and the other side for the shower. Out of your various plans I liked the one (I think it was the second one) with the largest diagonal wall.